Alpha-globin gene mutations sometimes can cause anemia such as H-Disease or more severe form causes Hydrops Fetalis which is inherited as an autosomal recessive manner.  Alpha-globin disorders are more prevalent in Southeast Asia but is also common in the Middle East and the Mediterranean regions. The majority of alpha-thal carriers have deletions. Mutations like 3.7kb, 4.2kb, 20.5kb, and MED deletions are more prevalent in the Middle East and the Mediterranean regions. Most cases of beta-thal carriers with normal HBA2 level have similar MCV, MCH, RBC and HBA levels. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to rule out alpha-thalassemia from beta-thalassemia during premarital, preconception, and pregnancy screenings. On the other hand, imbalances between the alpha and beta-globin copies can cause disease more often called beta-thal intermedia when one parent has 3.7 triplication and the other is carrier of beta-thal.

The GT HBA Gap Plus Detector is an agarose-based PCR kit to aid detection of common alpha-globin gene deletions (3.7kb, 4.2kb, 20.5kb, and MED) as well as alpha-globin 3.7 triplication or even quadruplication. The result interpretation has been facilitated by having an allelic ladder (i.e., has ɑ, 3.7kb, 4.2kb, 20.5kb, MED and anti-3.7kb fragments) which can be run with the unknown samples.